Rotary engine oil metering pump

ABSTRACT

A rotary engine is provided with an oil metering pump having a valve-impeller member that is rotatably mounted in the pump&#39;&#39;s body and is driven by the engine. An oil supply port in the pump&#39;&#39;s body is connected to an oil delivery port also in the pump&#39;&#39;s body via a chamber and then a variable area metering port in the valve-impeller member as this member turns. The area of the metering port is varied by controlling the axial location of the valve-impeller member according to engine throttle opening whereby the pump meters oil to the oil outlet port at a rate which increases with increasing throttle opening and also the centrifugal force of the oil at the metering port and thus with increasing engine speed.

United States Patent [191 Morgan [451 Jan. 29, 1974 1 ROTARY ENGINE OILMETERING PUMP [75] Inventor: Robert E. Morgan, Grand Rapids,

Mich.

[73] Assignee: General Motors Corporation,

Detroit, Mich.

[22] Filed: Nov. 29, 1972 21 Appl. No.: 310,234

[52] US. Cl 418/84, 418/87, 418/88, 418/100, 184/628 [51] Int. CL...F0lc 21/04, F04c 15/00, F04c 29/02 [58] Field of Search 418/84, 87, 88,97-100; 123/196 R [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,185,631l/l940 Heinze 418/87 3,140,700 7/1964 Nallinger 123/196 R 3,280,81210/1966 Peras 418/87 Primary Examiner-William L. Freeh AssistantExaminer-John J. Vrablik Attorney, Agent, or Firm-R. L. PhillipsABSTRACT A rotary engine is provided with an oil metering pump having avalve-impeller member that is rotatably mounted in the pumps body and isdriven by the engine. An oil supply port in the pumps body is connectedto an oil delivery port also in the pumps body via a chamber and then avariable area metering port in the valve-impeller member as this memberturns. The area of the metering port is varied by controlling the axiallocation of the valve-impeller member according to engine throttleopening whereby the pump meters oil to the oil outlet port at a ratewhich increases with increasing throttle opening and also thecentrifugal force of the oil at the metering port and thus withincreasing engine speed.

3 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures PATENTED I 3 788 782 SHEU 1 (IF 2 ROTARYENGINE OIL METERING PUMP that meters oil to lubricate a rotary enginesgas seals 7 in accordance with engine speed and throttle opening.

In a rotary engine, it is desirable to meter oil to lubricate the enginerotors gas seals at a rate that increases with engine load. It isrecognized that one wayof doing this is to meter the oil at a rate thatincreaseswith increasing engine speed and torque demand as indicated byengine throttle opening. While there are presently commerical pumps thatproduce such oil metering operation, there is a continuing effort forsimplification and reduction in size of the pump coupledwith increasedreliability and reduction in cost.

The rotary engine oil metering pump according to the present inventionis directed to the above goals and comprises a pump body in which ismounted a rotary valve-impeller member that is drivingly connected tothe engines shaft so that it turns at a speed proportional thereto whenthe engine is running. An oil inlet port in the pump body is connectedto an oil outlet in the pump body via a chamber and then a variable areametering port in the valve-impeller member as this with increasingengine speed at the metering port to provide an oil rate to the outletport that increases with both increasing engine speed and increasingengine throttle opening.

These and other objects of the invention will become more apparent withreference to the following description and drawing in which: A

FIG. 1 is an elevational view with parts shown diagrammatically andparts in section of a rotary combus-.

tion engine having an oilmetering pump according to the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of the oil metering pump in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a view of the oil metering pump taken along the line 33 inFIG. 2.

vFIG. 4 is a view of the oil metering pump taken along the line 4--4 inFIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a view of the oil metering pump taken along the line 55 inFIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a view of the oil metering pump taken along the line 6-6 inFIG. 2.

member turns. The area of the metering port is varied the metering portwith increasing throttle opening. As

the valve-impeller member rotates with its engine drive, the meteringport exposes oil in the chamber from the inlet port to the outlet portwith the area of the metering port opening being dependent upon therelative axial position of the metering port with respect to the outletport. At low engine speed there is metered a small quantity of oil tothe outlet port and due to the centrifugal force of the oil in thechamber and at the metering port, as the speed of the valve-impellermember increases, this pressure increases to this increase flow to theoutlet port. Furthermore, for any given valve-impeller member speed andthus engine speed, and on opening of the engine throttle, a greater areaof the metering port is exposed to the outlet port to increase the rateof delivery to the outlet port. Thus, the outlet port receives oil thatis metered at a rate that increases with both increasing engine speedand increasing engine throttle opening.

An object of the present invention is to provide a new and improvedrotary engine oil metering pump.

Another object is to provide a rotary engine oil metering pump having avalve-impeller member that is driven by the engine and has a variablearea metering port whose area increases with engine throttle opening toprovide an oil rate that increases with increasing engine speed andincreasing engine throttle opening.

Another object is to provide a rotary engine oil metering pump having avalve-impeller member that is engine driven and receives oil from aninlet port and delivers the oil via a chamber and then a metering portin this member to an oil outlet port with the area of the metering portbeing varied according to the axial position of the valve-impellermember and this position varied according to engine throttle openingwherein the arrangement operates to provide increasing pressure FIG. 7is a view of the oil metering pump taken along the line 7-7 in FIG. 2.

Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a rotary combustion engine 10 havingan oil meteringpump 12 according to the present invention that operatesto meter oil to lubricate the engines gas seals according to engineload. The engine 10 comprises a stationary outer'body or housing 13having a rotor cavity that is defined by an inwardly facing peripheralwall 14 and a pair of spaced end walls 16, only one of which is shown.The peripheral wall 14 is in the shape of a two-lobed epitrochoid or acurve parallel thereto and a rotor 18 having the general shape of atriangle with three convex peripheral faces 20 is mounted within therotor cavity on an eccentric 22 of a crankshaft 24. The crankshaft 24 isrotatably mounted outboard of the rotor cavity in the end walls 16. Anannular, externally toothed gear 26 is freely received about and isconcentric with the crankshaft 24 and is fixed to the engine housing 13.The gear 26 meshes with an internally toothed gear 28 that is concentricwith and fixed to one side of the rotor 18. The gear 28 has one andone-half times the number of teeth of the gear 26 with the result thatthis gearing enforces a fixed cyclic relation between the rotor and thecrankshaft such that the crankshaft, which is the engines output, makesthree complete revolutions for every one complete revolution of therotor. The rotor faces 20 cooperate with the peripheral wall 14 and withthe end walls 16 to define three variable volume working chambers 30that are spaced around and move with the rotor within the housing andvary in volume as the rotor rotates about its axis while planetatingwith respect with the crankshaft axis.

A carburetor 32 supplied with fuel from a fuel tank 34 by -a fuel pump36 delivers'a combustible air-fuel mixture to an intake manifold 38under the control of the carburetors throttle valve. The throttlevalve's opening is controlled by a throttle lever 49 that is connectedat one end to the throttle valves shaft 41. The other end of lever 40 isconnected to a rod 42 that is linked to an accelerator pedal, not shown,for control by the vehicle operator,- the throttle valve arrangementbeing such that it ,is opened when the throttle lever 40 is pivoted in acounterclockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 1. The intake manifold 38is connected to a pair of intake ports 44 which open to the rotor cavitythrough the end walls 16, there being only one such intake port shown inFIG. 1. On rotor rotation in the direction indicated by the arrow inFIG. 1, combustible air-fuel mixture is sequentially, periodicallyadmitted to the chambers 30 by the traversing motion of the rotor sidesrelative to the intake ports 44 whereafter the airfuel mixture istrapped and then compressed in readiness for ignition. Sequentialignition of the air-fuel mixture in the chambers 30 is effected by twospark plugs 46 and 48 which receive timed ignition pulses from adistributor 50 which is mounted on the engine housing 13 with the axisof its shaft 52 at right angles to the crankshaft axis. The distributorshaft 52 is driven by the crankshaft via a pinion 54 which is secured toa mid portion of the distributor shaft 52 and meshes with a worm gear 56formed on the crankshaft 24. The electrodes of the two spark plugs 46and 48 are open to the chambers 30 through the peripheral wall 14 andare peripherally spaced thereabout so that the plug 46 is said to leadthe other plug 48.- The spark plugs 46 and 48 may be fired together oronly one plug fired according to certain engine operating conditions.With combustion, the peripheral wall 14 takes the reaction to force therotor 18 to continue rotating and eventually each working chamberfollowing the expansion phase is exhausted during the exhaust phase toan exhaust manifold 58 via an exhaust port 60 that is opened to therotor cavity through the peripheral 14 and is periodically traversed bythe rotor apexes.

Sealing of the working chambers 30 is effected by three apex seals 62each of which extends the width of the rotor and is mounted in anaxially extending groove at one of the rotor apexes, six corner seals 64each of which is mounted in a cylindrical bore in one of the rotor sidesnear one of the rotor apexes, and six side seals 66 each of which ismounted in an arcuate groove in one of the rotor sides and extendsadjacent one of the rotor faces between two of the corner seals with thecorner seals each providing a sealing link between adjacent ends of twoside seals and one apex seal. The apex seals 62 are urged radiallyoutward by spring means, not shown, to continuously engage peripheralwall 14 and both the corner seals 64 and side seals 66 in both rotorsides are urged axially outward by suitable spring means, not shown, tocontinuously engage the end wall 16.

Having thus described a single rotor arrangement, it will be understoodthat the engine may have one or more additional rotors with suitableintake, ignition and exhaust provisions as is well known in the art. Theoil metering pump 12 according to the present invention is particularlysuited to properly meter oil to either a single or dual rotor engine ofthe above type to lubricate the apex seals 62 and also the corner seals64 and side seals 66 to minimize the wear of these gas seals and therotor cavity walls. I

Describing now the oil metering pump 12, there is a pump body 68 whichat its upper end, as shown in FIG. 2, has a pilot land 70 which isfitted in a hole 72 in a lower portion of the engine housing 13. Thepump body 68 is secured to housing 13 by a short bolt 73 and a long bolt74 with a gasket 75 being provided between the body and housing toprevent leakage. The pump body 68 has a cylindrical bore'76 whichextends completely therethrough and is aligned with the axis of thedistributor shaft 52. A short drive shaft 78 is rotatably mounted in theupper end of the bore 76 and has formed at its upper end arectangularly-shaped drive tang 79 that is received in acorrespondingly-shaped slot 80 in the lower end of the distributor shaft52 whereby there is provided a drive connection between the distributorshaft 52 and the pumps drive shaft 78. A thrust ring 84 is retained by asnap ring 86 in a counterbore in the upper end of the pump body 68 andengages with a shoulder 87 on the drive shaft 78 to limit upward pumpdrive shaft movement. A valve-impeller member 90 having a cylindricalexternal surface 91 is rotatably mounted with a close fit in the pumpbody bore 76 beneath the drive shaft 79 and at its upper end has areduced diameter portion 92 that is slidably received in a blind axialbore 94 in the lower end of the drive shaft 78. A roll pin 96 is pressedinto a radial through-hole in the lower end of the drive shaft 78 and isreceived in the drive shaft bore 94 in an open-ended axially extendingslot 98 in the upper end of the reduced diameter portion 92 of thevalve-impeller member 90. The pin 96 and slot 98 provide a pin and slotconnection between the shaft 78 and the valve-impeller member 90 so thatwhile the drive shaft 78 drives the valve-impeller member 90 thevalve-impeller member is permitted to move axially relative to the driveshaft 78. Adjacent the lower end of the valve-impeller member 90 thereis provided a nut- 100 having a circular perimeter that closely fits thebore 76. Nut 100 is fixed against both axial and rotational movement inbore 76 by a pin 101 which is press-fitted in a through-hole 102 in thepump body 68 and is received in a groove in the outer diameter of thenut 100 as shown in FIGS. 2 and The axial location of the valve-impellermember 90 which determines the size of a metering area, as will bedescribed in more detail later, is controlled by an adjustment member104 which has a cylindrical portion 105 closely fitted in the lower endof the pump body bore 76, this cylindrical portion 105 having an annulargroove in its outer diameter receiving an O-ring seal 106 that radiallysealingly engages the bore 76 to prevent leakage therepast. The upperportion of the adjustment member 104 is provided with a reduced diameterhaving a thread 108 that engages the nut 100, these threads being ofleft-hand pitch so that the adjustment member 104 advances into the bore76 when turned counterclockwise in bore 76 as viewed from the outboardend thereof.

The upper end of the adjustment member 104 is provided with a roundedend 110 which bears against a conical seat 111 that is formed in thelower end of the valve-impeller member 90 centrally thereof. A coilspring 112 mounted in bore 94 of the drive shaft 78 is bottomed on theblind upper end of this bore and at its lower end engages the slottedupper end of the valveimpeller member 90. The spring 112 maintainsengagement between the valve-impeller member 90 and the adjustmentmember 104, the valve-impeller member 90 being moved upwardly by theadjustment member 104 against this spring as the latter member advancesand the spring maintaining the engagement between these members to movethe valve-impeller member 90 downward as the adjustment member 104 isretracted.

The adjustment member 104 is linked to the throttle linkage so that itis turned to advance the valve impeller member 90 into bore 76 as thethrottle is opened. As shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 6, a lever 114 has asquare hole 115 receiving a correspondingly-shaped section 116 on theoutboard end of the adjustment member 104 which is staked securely tothe lever in a certain relative position to be determined in thecalibration of the pump. The other end of lever 114 has a socket 118pivotably secured thereto. The socket 118 has a radial through-hole 119slidably receiving a rod 120 which at its right-hand end has a retainingring 122 clamped or otherwise secured thereto and receives a coil spring124 between the socket 118 and the retaining ring 122. The rod 120 isconnected by a sheathed cable 126 to a lever 128 which is pivotablysupported on the carburetors throttle valve shaft 41 and is en gaged bya tang 129 on the throttle lever 40 to pivot counterclockwise to pullthe cable 126 as the throttle is opened, as shown in FIG. 1. As shown inFIG. 6, an adjustable stop provided by a stop screw 131 that is threadedto a flange 132 on the pump lever 114 engages a portion 133 of theexterior of the pump body 68 to determine the valve-impeller membersminimum metering port area condition as described in more detail later,the desired position of the stop screw 131 being fixed by a lock nut134. the adjustment lever 114 is biased to this stop positionby atorsion spring 135 which, as shown in FIGS. 2, S and 6, is arrangedabout the adjustment member 104 and engages at its opposite ends thepump body 68 and the lever 114 so that its force urges clockwisemovement of the lever 114 as viewed in FIG. 6. The coil spring 124maintains the lever 128 at the carburetor against the tang 129 and alsoyields to permit the cable-pulled rod 120 to slide in the socket 118when the rod is pulled leftward, as viewed in FIGS. 2 and 6, beyond themaximum travel of the control lever 114.

Describing now how oil is supplied to the pump 12, metered and thendelivered to lubricate the engines gas seals, oil is obtained from theengines pressurized lubrication system which includes a passage 136 inthe engine housing 13 as shown in FIG. 5. A drilled hole 138 in the pumpbody 68 is open at the pump base end to the engine's lubrication systempassage 136 and connects at its other end with a drilled hole 140 thatintersects the bore 76 and is closed at its entrance end to the pumpbody a press-fitted ball 141. The hole 140 serves as an inlet port andopens to the bore 76 to deliver oil thereto between the nut 100 and thecylindrical. portion 105 of the adjustment member 104. A drilled radialhole 142 in the adjustment member 104 connects this portion of the bore76 which is supplied with oil to a central axially extending hole 143that is drilled from the upper end of the adjustment member as bestshown in FIG. 2. The hole 143 in the adjustment member 104 is in turnopen to a drilled hole 144 that extends centrally and axially throughthe valve-impeller member 90. The hole 144 is open to the bore 94 in thepump shaft 78 and is also open to a drilled radial hole 146 in thevalve-impeller member that is located midway along the length of thecylindrical surface 91. The hole 146 opens at its outerradial end to ametering port 147 that is cut in the cylindrical surface 91 of thevalveimpeller member 90. As shown in FIGS. 2, 3 and 5, the metering port147 is formed so that it extends longitudinally of the valve-impellermember 90 and has a decreasing width and thus an area that decreases atsurfaces 91 in the axial direction away from its feed hole 146.

The pump body 68 has two outlet ports 148 and 150 which are located 180apart in the same radial plane and intersect the bore 76, these outletports being provided by a drilled hole which is closed at its entranceto the pump body by a press-fitted ball 151. The metering port 147 isalways arranged relative to the outlet ports 148 and 150 so that it issequentially opened outlet ports these ports as the valve-impellermember turns, and furthermore, the shape of the metering port providesthat as the valve-impeller member 90 is adjusted axially according tothe pitch of the threads on adjustment member 108 and nut 100, the areaof the metering port 147 open to these outlet ports varies and increasesas the valve-impeller member 90 is advanced upwardly from a positionsuch as that shown in FIG. 2. The outlet ports 148 and are open to oildelivery passages 152 and 154, respectively, which in turn are connectedto deliver oil from the pump to lubricate the engines gas seals. Forexample, an oil pipe 156 connects the oil delivery passage 152 to supplyoil to the float bowl of carburetor 32 as shown in FIG. 1, while anotheroil pipe 158 connects the other oil delivery passage 154 to supply oilto the carburetor system for the other rotor. The oil thus delivered ismixed with the fuel and then fed with the fuel through the intake portsto the rotor cavities where it is distributed to lubricate the gas sealsas they slide on the housing walls. It will also be understood that theoil may be delivered directly into the carburetors jet circuit or intothe air stream in the carburetor throat or directly through the housingwalls on which these seals slide.

Describing now the oil metering operation provided by the oil meteringpump 12, the pumps drive shaft 79 and thus the pumps valve-impellermember 90 is driven from the engine crankshaft 24 via the distributorshaft 52 at a speed proportional to engine speed and with the enginethrottle closed and the engine idling, the valve-impeller member 90 isthen at its minimum metering area condition which is determined by thelever 114 being up against the stop 133. In this condition, some area ofthe metering port 147 is openable to the outlet ports 148 and 150 as thevalve-impeller member 90 turns such as shown in FIG. 2. With oil madeavailable to the pumps oil inlet port 140, oil fills the entire internalvolume of the pump including the rotary chamber provided by' hole 144,bore 94, hole 146 and the metering port 147. With the valve-impellermember 90 turning at its idle speed which may be considerably less thanengine idle speed, the metering port 147 presents a minimum flow area tothe outlet ports 148 and 150 so that oil then periodically flows at aminimum rate to these outlet ports 148 and 150, the outlet ports thusreceiving a small shot of oil for each turn of the valve-impeller member90. At this minimum speed of the valve-impeller member 90 the smallquantity of oil released to the outlet ports at this rate is determinedfor the particular usage to meet the minimum oil requirements whichoccur at engine idle with no load demand. Then when the speed of thevalve-impeller member 90 increases with increasing engine speed,irrespective of whether the engine throttle is open, substantialcentrifugal force is developed in the chamber space of the metering port147 which acts to force an increase in the amount of oil that isdelivered to the outlet ports 148 and 150. On the other hand, for anyconstant speed of the valve-impeller member 90 and an increase inthrottle opening, the lever 114 is turned as the engine throttle isopened to advance the adjustment member 104 and thus the valve-impellermember 90 so that the metering port 147 has a larger area opening to theoutlet ports 148 and 150 with the result that there is providing acorresponding increase in the amount of oil that is discharged to theoutlet ports 148 and 150. Thus, the oil is metered to the outlet ports148 and 150 at a rate which increases with both increasing engine speedand throttle opening and thus with engine load. it will also beunderstood that for engines where only one metered oil supply isrequired, the pump is easily adapted thereto by simply connecting one ofthe oil outlet ports back to the oil inlet port or by having only oneoil outlet port. Furthermore, it will be understood that the oil supplyto the pump may be by gravity feed instead of by engine lubricationpressure.

The above described embodiments are illustrative of the invention whichmay be modified within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1; An oil metering pump for metering oil to lubricate a rotary enginehaving gas seals, an output shaft and a throttle comprising a pump bodyhaving a bore, a pump drive shaft rotatably mounted in said bore, meansdrivingly connecting said output shaft to rotate said pump drive shaft,a valve-impeller member having an external surface rotatably mounted insaid bore, means for drivingly connecting said pump'drive shaft and saidvalveimpeller member while permitting said valve-impeller member to moveaxially in said bore, an adjustment member rotatably mounting in saidbore engaging said valve-impeller member, means for causing saidadjustment member to move axially when said adjustment member is turnedin said bore wherebysaid valveimpeller member is moved in one axialdirection when said adjustment member is turned in one direction, springmeans for maintaining said valve-impeller member against said adjustmentmember whereby said valve-impeller member is caused to move in theopposite axial direction when said adjustment member is turned in theopposite direction, means for operatively connecting said throttle andsaid adjustment member so that said adjustment member is turned in saidone direction to a position determined by a stop, an inlet port in saidpump body, a chamber in said valveimpeller member continuously connectedto said inlet port, a metering port in said external surface of saidvalve-impeller member connected to said chamber, an outlet port in saidpump body, said metering port extending axially of said valve-impellermember and opening to said outlet port as said valve-impeller memberturns and having an area at said external surface openable to saidoutlet port that increases as said valveimpeller member moves in saidone axial direction with increasing throttle opening.

2. An oil metering pump for metering oil to lubricate a rotary enginehaving gas seals, an output shaft and a throttle comprising a pump bodyhaving a bore, a pump drive shaft rotatably mounted in said bore, meansdrivingly connecting said output shaft to rotate said pump drive shaft,a valve-impeller member having an external surface rotatably mounted insaid bore, means for drivingly connecting said pump drive shaft and saidvalveimpeller member while permitting said valve-impeller member to moveaxially in said bore, an adjustment member rotatably mounted in saidbore engaging said valve-impeller member, means for causing saidadjustment member to move axially when said adjustment member is turnedin said bore whereby said valveimpeller member is moved in one axialdirection when said adjustment member is turned in one direction, springmeans arranged between said drive shaft and said one end of saidvalve-impeller member for maintaining said valve-impeller member againstsaid adjustment member whereby said valve-impeller member is caused tomove in the opposite axial direction when said adjustment member isturned in the opposite direction, means for operatively connecting saidthrottle and said adjustment member so that said adjustment member isturned in said one direction as said throttle is opened, spring meansfor biasing said adjustment member to turn in said opposite direction toa position determined by a stop, an inlet port in said pump body, achamber in said valve-impeller member continuously connected to saidinlet port, a metering port in said external surface of saidvalve-impeller member connected to said chamber, an outlet port in saidpump body, said metering port extending axially of said valveimpellermember and opening to said outlet port as said valve-impeller memberturns and having an area at said external surface openable to saidoutlet port that increases as said valve-impeller member moves in saidone axial direction with increasing throttle opening whereby oilsupplied to said inlet port is metered to said outlet port at a ratewhich increases with increasing speed of said valve-impeller member,increasing centrifugal force in said metering port and also increasingarea of said metering port so that said rate thus increases with bothincreasing engine speed and increasing throttle opening.

3. An oil metering pump for metering oil to lubricate a rotary enginehaving gas seals, an output shaft and a throttle comprising a pump bodyhaving a bore, a pump drive shaft rotatably mounted in said bore, meansdrivingly connecting said output shaft to rotate said pump drive shaft,a valve-impeller member having an external surface rotatably mounted insaid bore, means for drivingly connecting said pump drive shaft and saidvalveimpeller member at one end of said valve-impeller member whilepermitting said valve-impeller member to move axially in said bore, anadjustment member rotatably mounted in said bore engaging the oppositeend of said valve-impeller member, means for causing said adjustmentmember to move axially when said adjustment member is turned in saidbore whereby said valveimpeller member is moved in one axial directionwhen said adjustment member is turned in' one direction, spring meansarranged between said drive shaft and said one end of saidvalve-impeller member for maintaining said valve-impeller member againstsaid adjustment member whereby said valve-impeller member is caused tomove in the opposite axial direction when said adjustment member isturned in the opposite direction, means for operatively connecting saidthrottle and said adjustment member so that said adjustment member isturned in said one direction as said throttle is opened, spring meansfor biasing said adjustment member to turn in said opposite direction toa minimum metering area position determined by a stop, an inlet port insaid pump body open to said here, a chamber in said valve-impellermember continuously connected in said bore to said inlet port, ametering port in said external surface of said valve-impeller memberconnected to said chamber, a pair of diametrically opposite outletwhereby oil supplied to said inlet port is metered to said outlet portsat a rate which increases with increasing speed of said valve-impellermember, increasing centrifugal force in said metering port and alsoincreasing area of said metering port so that said rate thus increaseswith both increasing engine speed and increasing throttle opening.

g gg UNITED STATES PATENT OCFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION P n3.788.782 Dated January 29, 1974 Inventor(s) Robert Morgan It iscertified that error appears in the above identified patent and thatsaid Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Column 2, line 60, "49". should read 40 Column 4, line 12, "79" shouldread 78 Column 5, line 22, "the" should read The Column 6, line 5, after"opened" insert to these Column 7, line 29, "mounting" should readmounted Signed and sealed this 3rd day of December 1974.

(SEAL) Attest: v

McCOY M. GIBSON JR. c; MARSHALL DANN Attesting Officer Commissioner ofPatents

1. An oil metering pump for metering oil to lubricate a rotary enginehaving gas seals, an output shaft and a throttle comprising a pump bodyhaving a bore, a pump drive shaft rotatably mounted in said bore, meansdrivingly connecting said output shaft to rotate said pump drive shaft,a valve-impeller member having an external surface rotatably mounted insaid bore, means for drivingly connecting said pump drive shaft and saidvalve-impeller member while permitting said valve-impeller member tomove axially in said bore, an adjustment member rotatably mounting insaid bore engaging said valve-impeller member, means for causing saidadjustment member to move axially when said adjustment member is turnedin said bore whereby said valveimpeller member is moVed in one axialdirection when said adjustment member is turned in one direction, springmeans for maintaining said valve-impeller member against said adjustmentmember whereby said valve-impeller member is caused to move in theopposite axial direction when said adjustment member is turned in theopposite direction, means for operatively connecting said throttle andsaid adjustment member so that said adjustment member is turned in saidone direction as said throttle is opened, spring means for biasing saidadjustment member to turn in said opposite direction to a positiondetermined by a stop, an inlet port in said pump body, a chamber in saidvalve-impeller member continuously connected to said inlet port, ametering port in said external surface of said valve-impeller memberconnected to said chamber, an outlet port in said pump body, saidmetering port extending axially of said valve-impeller member andopening to said outlet port as said valve-impeller member turns andhaving an area at said external surface openable to said outlet portthat increases as said valve-impeller member moves in said one axialdirection with increasing throttle opening.
 2. An oil metering pump formetering oil to lubricate a rotary engine having gas seals, an outputshaft and a throttle comprising a pump body having a bore, a pump driveshaft rotatably mounted in said bore, means drivingly connecting saidoutput shaft to rotate said pump drive shaft, a valve-impeller memberhaving an external surface rotatably mounted in said bore, means fordrivingly connecting said pump drive shaft and said valve-impellermember while permitting said valve-impeller member to move axially insaid bore, an adjustment member rotatably mounted in said bore engagingsaid valve-impeller member, means for causing said adjustment member tomove axially when said adjustment member is turned in said bore wherebysaid valve-impeller member is moved in one axial direction when saidadjustment member is turned in one direction, spring means arrangedbetween said drive shaft and said one end of said valve-impeller memberfor maintaining said valve-impeller member against said adjustmentmember whereby said valve-impeller member is caused to move in theopposite axial direction when said adjustment member is turned in theopposite direction, means for operatively connecting said throttle andsaid adjustment member so that said adjustment member is turned in saidone direction as said throttle is opened, spring means for biasing saidadjustment member to turn in said opposite direction to a positiondetermined by a stop, an inlet port in said pump body, a chamber in saidvalve-impeller member continuously connected to said inlet port, ametering port in said external surface of said valve-impeller memberconnected to said chamber, an outlet port in said pump body, saidmetering port extending axially of said valve-impeller member andopening to said outlet port as said valve-impeller member turns andhaving an area at said external surface openable to said outlet portthat increases as said valve-impeller member moves in said one axialdirection with increasing throttle opening whereby oil supplied to saidinlet port is metered to said outlet port at a rate which increases withincreasing speed of said valve-impeller member, increasing centrifugalforce in said metering port and also increasing area of said meteringport so that said rate thus increases with both increasing engine speedand increasing throttle opening.
 3. An oil metering pump for meteringoil to lubricate a rotary engine having gas seals, an output shaft and athrottle comprising a pump body having a bore, a pump drive shaftrotatably mounted in said bore, means drivingly connecting said outputshaft to rotate said pump drive shaft, a valve-impeller member having anexternal surface rotatably mounted in said bore, means for drivinglyconnecting said pump drive shaft and said valve-impeller member at oneend of said valve-impeller member while permiTting said valve-impellermember to move axially in said bore, an adjustment member rotatablymounted in said bore engaging the opposite end of said valve-impellermember, means for causing said adjustment member to move axially whensaid adjustment member is turned in said bore whereby saidvalve-impeller member is moved in one axial direction when saidadjustment member is turned in one direction, spring means arrangedbetween said drive shaft and said one end of said valve-impeller memberfor maintaining said valve-impeller member against said adjustmentmember whereby said valve-impeller member is caused to move in theopposite axial direction when said adjustment member is turned in theopposite direction, means for operatively connecting said throttle andsaid adjustment member so that said adjustment member is turned in saidone direction as said throttle is opened, spring means for biasing saidadjustment member to turn in said opposite direction to a minimummetering area position determined by a stop, an inlet port in said pumpbody open to said bore, a chamber in said valve-impeller membercontinuously connected in said bore to said inlet port, a metering portin said external surface of said valve-impeller member connected to saidchamber, a pair of diametrically opposite outlet ports in said pumpbody, said metering port extending axially of said valve-impeller memberand opening to said outlet ports as said valve-impeller member turns andhaving an area at said external surface openable to said outlet portthat is a minimum in said minimum metering area position of saidadjustment member and increases as said valve-impeller member moves insaid one axial direction with increasing throttle opening whereby oilsupplied to said inlet port is metered to said outlet ports at a ratewhich increases with increasing speed of said valve-impeller member,increasing centrifugal force in said metering port and also increasingarea of said metering port so that said rate thus increases with bothincreasing engine speed and increasing throttle opening.